Peace of the Season?

I thought I was doing good this holiday season. Seemed to be ahead of the game on my cards, baking, and while I hadn't actually gone shopping, at least I had a solid game plan. Then my husband went and scheduled a flight for me up to visit my Mom on the 20th. So much for the well planned schedule.

Now I come from a long line of Type A personality, planners. We like our schedules. We figure things out ahead of time, we know what has to get done and we do it. And we pride ourselves on being on-time, and even better yet - ahead of the game. Unfortunately for me I married a Type A procrastinator. I still haven't quite figured out how these two seemingly, contradictory traits go together, but for him they do. Phase 1 is peaceful with no worries, there is plenty of time. Enter Phase 2, my wife is starting to bug me that we're running out of time and it's annoying me because there really is still plenty of time. Phase 3, Oh My God!!!! there's no time left!

This year was even worse than previous. Last year I made the mistake of purchasing gifts for my stepdaughters without my husband. What man likes to go shopping? How silly of me - apparently my husband does. He no longer quite knows what works in teenage fashion, but he wants to be a part of the experience. So this year, I waited. And waited. And waited. Until finally we were down to the last available day that we could go together. And, of course, we still needed a tree too.

So, bright and early we headed to the mall and completed all shopping for 3 girls in under 2 hours. Unbelievable. So much for browsing and contemplating the perfect gift. Is that her size? It is, and it's on clearance! Sold! We arrived back home with our bags, dumped them secretly in the house and were off to Home Depot for a tree. 5 mins. later something resembling a tree was tied to our car. So much for my tradition of trekking out to cut down our own. A good friend of mine, also from upstate NY, commiserated with me over our old childhood times and how this year her husband and her went to the local Sears parking lot.

We had our gifts, we had our tree. It was a little over a week before the big day. The tree was in the living room, no lights, no decorations. Wrapping paper remain missing in the attic. Finally the decorations found their way to our bedroom. It would be another two days before they made it to the living room couch. In between working late at the office, delivery cookies, and finishing cards (I thought I was ahead of the game????) the lights got thrown on the tree. Slowly a few brave ornaments found their way onto the tree and then in the final days before Christmas Eve, the tree got decorated. (And while everyone in the family put ornaments on the tree, not one of us did it at the same time.)

The cookies were all delivered. The cards all mailed. And most gifts bought. That only left some last minute purchases and A LOT of wrapping for Christmas Eve. But it all got done. Our last minute Christmas.

I had complained and then joked about how it all came together, but as we sat there Christmas morning all opening our gifts the thing that struck me most was how much of a family we were becoming. We may have not gone through the typical traditions of picking out our tree, decorating it together, baking cookies, numerous trips to the mall to find the perfect gift, and so on. However, gone was the anxiety of past years over who got more gifts, that the girls had to buy gifts for me or Mom, that Mom was there but not other relatives. Instead, there was laughing, smiles, and a general peacefulness. We berated Andy for videotaping us in with our bedhead and pjs. Tara laughed as she opened the dogs' gifts as she had fewer boxes than anyone (but only because she had the most expensive gift). The girls smiled with pride as Mom gushed over the gifts they had purchased with their own money and accord. Hugs and kisses were genuinely given among everyone. It was our own little Christmas miracle.

Do I dare say that it seems our little, crazy, stepfamily might just be becoming a family?

Miracle of Cookies

I think it was four years ago that my mom started the annual Christmas Cookie Sale at her church. She had heard of a nearby church that did something similar to raise money and decided that it would be a neat activity to try. Needless to say it has become something legends are told of.

Every year, around November, my mom and her little helpers begin hounding the church ladies for promises of baked cookies. And they don't accept just any cookie. These have to be FANCY cookies - no store bought, no plain 'ole chocolate chip. We're talking, bars, decorated, cut-outs, fudge, anything worthy of delivery to the baby Jesus. These women return with promises of 10 dozen, 15 dozen, 20 dozen and more! Last year set the all time record of something like 700 dozen cookies.

The beginning of December they hold a "decorating party" in the church one Sat. morning. The first year they even had a professional baker come and give them decorating lessons and hints. This is serious stuff here. Finally, a week or so before Christmas they set up shop in the dining room, transforming it with tables, silver trays, and poinsettias.

I've only heard tales of the people lining up and hour before opening, the mad rush to be the first, and the strategies employed by shoppers to ensure premium selection. Apparently it is analogous to Filene's Basement on wedding dress day. This year I decided to check it out myself and sure enough - there were the crowds, there went the cookies, and before we knew it we were done. 350 lbs of cookies - POOOF! - in less than an hour. Now that I've eaten my fair share I can only cringe at the number of calories. But, boy they were good.

Not sure if I'll make it up next year again, but I'm sure there will be plenty of opportunities to come. I think if the now-tradition were to stop there might be a large uprising in the local community.

Indulgence

Unlike most years I've actually been doing good this year when it comes to the holidays. Perhaps it was because Thanksgiving was earlier or perhaps it was because I kept thinking it was December when it was still November, but I am so ahead of the game. It's a Christmas miracle.

As part of my holiday activities, I recently bought some gifts from Williams and Sonoma, plus a tin of peppermint bark for ourselves. In an effort to make it last longer than 24 hours, I took it upstairs to our room away from teenage cravings. I had barely eaten any, when one of the girls called us at work, home from school, to report that Spencer had eaten the bark. At first I questioned her since I couldn't believe it. Usually he's unbelievable good about staying out of things. I've often placed my dinner right in front of him, walked away, and come back to find him inches from it, drool all over the place, but the food untouched.

Well, lately after his bout with pancreatitis he has been feeling much, much better. Of course, we've also taken him off his potassium bromide which he was on for seizures. He still gets his phenobarb, but the combination of the two can increase the chances of a pancreatic episode. So while he was sick and in the hospital, he did get the pheno intravenously, but he didn't get the potassium. By the time he returned home, it had been a week since he'd last had it. Here I was being so careful about what I fed him, to allow him to heal, and yet I was about to put the potassium in with his food. I just couldn't do it. Since then, his energy has more than doubled, he's more sure on his feet and you can just tell he feels better. He's faster, more sure of himself, and behaving in ways he hasn't in years.

Such as eating the 1 lb tin of peppermint bark......One frantic call to the vet later, I was reassured that it was not enough chocolate to prove poisonous and there was more sugar than fat (thus not aggravating the pancreas). All that was left was to deal with one unhappy tummy and have a good laugh.

Birthday Surprise

Teenagers. We were all them at one point and some of us are lucky enough to experience the lovely years as parents. It's given me a completely different perspective and understanding. Ask my mom - I've called her several times to apologize.

But every once in awhile they do surprise. This time it was Andy's birthday, complete with decorations, gift & card (bought with their own money of their own accord!!!), and a full dinner. Steak, corn, mashed potatoes, and meringue for desert. All without even being reminded of the actual date. Impressive.